Here's my advice: Don't give up chocolate for Lent this year. Or rather, give up chocolate - or whatever else you give up - if it helps you think about God more often. But if all it does is make you think about chocolate, then let me suggest some other Lenten practices to you.
In the sixth century, St. Benedict wrote a "guidebook" to living in a monastic community, a document we know today as The Rule of St. Benedict. "The life of a monk ought to be a continuous Lent," he wrote. In the next sentence he gets a bit more realistic. Since not many have the strength to live Lent all the time, Benedict advises us to "wash away the negligences of other times."
What most of us neglect- with more regularity than we might care to admit - is God. So this Lent, instead of giving up chocolate, give up neglecting God. Here are a few ways for doing that, all of them straight from ancient and contemporary monasteries. I know - you're not a monk or nun! And I'm not suggesting that you start going to church seven times a day during Lent or wearing black robes and hoods. But you might be surprised at how much there is to learn from monastic life, even for those of us who live secular lives. But don't try to follow all of them or you'll end up just paying attention to your Lenten discipline - instead of God.
Have a heart-to-heart with God
"Pray temperately and simply. Prayer is a heart-to-heart talk between yourself and God and needs no brilliant ideas, no flood of words" (The Jerusalem Community Rule of Life, Jerusalem/Paris, 1978).
Take some time out for a long walk, or go to a quiet place you enjoy and just have a heart-to-heart with God. Put away all your notions about trying to impress God by being brilliant or by using carefully chosen words. Pretend you're talking to a friend you've neglected and say what's on your heart. Don't forget to do some listening as well.
Cut back on work
"By choosing to work as hard as possible, but not more than you ought, not primarily in view of a perishable end but one that lasts forever, you are to stand free and challenging in a world where work has been overrated into a religion and often into a sacred cow" (The Jerusalem Community Rule of Life).
